53,221 petrol pumps in the country: Govt

Power Minister Piyush Goyal said the expansion of retail outlets network by oil marketing companies (OMCs) throughout the country is a continuous process to ensure adequate availability of motoring fuels like petrol and diesel in thye upcoming urban as well as rural areas.

There are 53,221 petrol pumps in the country of which 41,140 are located in urban areas and 12,081 are in rural areas, Goyal said during Question Hour, speaking on behalf of Petroleum Minister Dharmedra Pradhan.

Retail outlets are set up by OMCs at identified locations based on field survey and feasibility studies.

Locations found to be having sufficient potential and which are economically viable are rostered in the marketing plans for setting up retail outlets, he said.

Replying another question, Goyal said as many as 33 prospective projects of setting up petroleum pipelines are under process. The total length of these projects was 14,880 km and will have a combined capacity of 80.5 MMTPA.

The Minister said oil public sector undertakings have formulated a mechanism for optimisation of cross country petroleum product pipeline projects taking into consideration the low cost transportation and other inherent advantages of pipelines compared to other modes of transportation covering the requisite investment with cost benefit analysis and potential generation of employment thereof.